Blind
by Satanira
Summary: AU. Quatre and Catherine have a really mean dad. He doesn't last too long. Fun at the Maxwell Orphanage. Yaoi, language, and violence. Just read it.
1. Part One

_Don't ask. Just… please don't ask._

* * *

The glow from the computer screen on one side of the narrow room cast an eerie glow across the floor and opposite wall, making the white plaster gleam in the near-suffocating darkness. The luminous stretch of carpet was bare, save a few pens and wads of paper. In the far corner, untouched by the dim light, two young children huddled together, their fear hanging in the air like the coppery scent of blood.

Although the room itself was silent, there was noise elsewhere; things crashed to the floor, something heavy slammed into the wall, and someone cursed nearby. As the sounds grew louder, the children shrank further into the dubious shelter of the shadows. The smaller of the two whimpered quietly, and the other tried his best to soothe her without speaking.

The door handle jiggled, but did not turn; the boy had locked it when he'd closed the door to their illusionary refuge. After a moment, the sound of splintering wood filled the night as a foot slammed into the door again and again, battering it down.

The girl screamed when the tortured plank hit the floor, and the boy made no attempt to quiet her now; the giant silhouette filling the door had robbed him of the ability to move.

"There you are, you friggin brats!" The silhouette growled, lurching into the room and reaching for the girl.

She drew back for him, taking shelter behind the boy.

"Don't think that coward'll protect you, you little bitch." The silhouette moved further into the room, becoming a man with the same brown hair as the girl and the little boy's bright aqua eyes. "I'll rip him apart, too."

"P-please..." the boy whispered tremulously. "Please, Daddy, don't-"

The man backhanded the boy hard enough to knock him into the much-diminished light cast by the computer. The obstacle removed and now unimportant in his twisted mind, the man again reached for the girl, grabbing her small arm in a painfully tight grip and lifting her off the ground.

"Just like her..." He growled, breathing whiskey-laden breath on the terrified child. "Just like that slut..." He continued, slamming her against the wall and placing his other hand against her neck. "Got her eyes... her damned eyes..."

The boy, stunned momentarily, sat up as light from the hallway flashed on something in his father's hand; a kitchen knife.

"Stop looking at me!" The man bellowed, taking a wild swing at his daughter's face; at that range and angle, he couldn't have possibly missed.

Oblivious to the pain-riddled shrieks of the child in front of him and the sirens outside, he shifted his grip on the knife and lifted it above his head, positioned to thrust downward into her tiny body and tear through it.

From somewhere deep within him, the little boy found the strength to stand. Taking a running start, he launched himself at the man he'd loved all his short life, somehow attaching himself to the arm supporting the knife, and bit down with the ferocity of a wild animal.

The man's scream of rage and pain was accompanied by the sound of running feet on the stairs.

* * *

"- Mr. Bloom was found guilty of murder in the first degree, attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated assault, and assault with a deadly weapon. Interestingly enough, he was found not guilty of child abuse. Colony authorities here on X27-NL8 are pushing for the maximum sentence of life without possibility of parole. In local news-"

The pretty news lady flashed out of sight as the television went dark, and the group of young children clustered in front of the screen turned to Sister Helen, questions written all over their small faces.

"Sister Helen, why would that man want to kill his wife?" One of the boys asked quietly. "Aren't husbands supposed to love their wifes?"

"Wives, Jason," Sister Helen corrected him gently, kneeling and wrapping her arms around him. "wives. And that man had something wrong with his mind. He stopped loving his wife, I guess."

"Like my momma and daddy stopped loving me?" One of the girls piped up, wiggling under Sister Helen's arm and hugging the thin woman.

"Yes," Sister Helen agreed. "Almost exactly like that."

"What does 'life without poss'bility of parole' mean?" Another boy asked, trying his best to repeat what the news lady had said.

"That's enough questions, young ones." Father Maxwell, the old priest who ran the orphanage, said softly from the doorway. "It's almost time for evening Mass."

"Yes, Father!" The children chorused, scampering off to clean up or finish their daily chores.

"Father?" One of the smaller boys, one with a long chestnut braid and violet eyes, asked tentively, hesitating in the doorway.

"Yes, Duo?" Father Maxwell asked, readying himself to answer a difficult question. Duo was much, much older than any six-year-old had a right to be, and the questions he asked reflected it.

"Father, what's gonna happen to that man's kids? Will they go to an orphanage like this one?"

"I don't know, Duo." Father Maxwell said, looking down to avoid Duo's candid, penetrating gaze. "They may, or they might have relatives who will take them in,"

"I hope so," Duo said with a sigh. "Bein' an orphan's not very nice, even here."

"Duo!" A childish wail sounded from back near the bathrooms. "Jason won't let me use the sink!"

"Jason!" Duo yelled in exasperation, turning and running off to settle things down.

"No wonder the last couple sent him back." Sister Helen commented, a curious little smile playing across her lips. "He's so very wise..."

"Yes, he is." Father Maxwell agreed. "Perhaps too wise. Children his age are usually snatched up, but no one will take him in."

"I suppose," Sister Helen conceded, sighing. "But at least here, his wisdom and intellect are recognized and encouraged,"

"There is that."

* * *

"Careful, Cathy." Quatre warned, gently steering his younger sister away from the table she'd been about to walk into. "Your room's over here."

"Tanks." Cathy said, smiling in Quatre's general direction. At only five, Cathy still had trouble saying 'th' and 'sh,' pronouncing them 't' and 's.'

"It's okay." Quatre, at a mature six and a half, had no such trouble speaking clearly, if only because he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up, and doctors had to be able to talk clearly. "Here's the door." He took Cathy's tiny hand and guided it to the warm oak panels, then up to the brass doorknob.

Cathy turned the knob on her own and pushed the door inward. Step by careful step, she entered her new room, feeling the change from hardwood floor to carpeting through her socks.

"Did tey pick a good color?" She asked, keeping hold of Quatre with one hand and feeling the air in front of her with the other.

"They made it white and shiny yellow," Quatre told her truthfully, glad that their uncle had picked colors Cathy would like, even if she couldn't see them. "And there're unicorns all over it." He added.

"Unicorns?" Cathy repeated excitedly, perking up visibly. "Any stuffed ones? " She demanded.

"Lots!" Quatre said, leading her over to the giant white bed and handing her the biggest stuffed unicorn there. "And they're white and yellow, too!"

"His name's Mark." Cathy said decisively, hugging toy tight to her chest with one arm. "Mark Amos."

"There you two are!" A voice behind the two exclaimed, and noth children turned to look at the doorway, where their uncle stood.

Quatre liked Uncle Zechs. Uncle Zechs knew magic tricks, told funny stories, and could pick up Quatre and his sister with one arm each.

_But Daddy could do that, too._ He reminded himself, his elation at his new home dwindling.

"Hi, Uncle Sex!" Cathy exclaimed, smiling at a spot two feet or so off center, and Quatre's heart contracted painfully.

_But Daddy hurt Cathy, and Uncle Zechs would never do that!_

"Zechs, Catherine-dear." Uncle Zechs said with a laugh. "Not sex, Zechs. Zzzzechs."

"Zzzzechs." Cathy repeated brightly. "Zzechs."

"Right!" Zechs said, picking up both children. "And to celebrate, let's go eat lunch, shall we?"

"Yay!" Quatre shouted with Cathy, although his heart still hurt because he knew what Cathy looked like without the bandages over her eyes.

_Daddy can't hurt Cathy again, though._ Quatre thought firmly. _Uncle Zechs and Aunt Lucy'll make sure he can't.

* * *

_

After only two months in a maximum-security prison, Arthur Bloom managed a daring escape. Eluding authorities for nearly a week, he made his way to his former brother-in-law's house, where he had discovered his children were living.

There, he killed his brother-in-law's wife, Lucrezia Noine-Merquise, and several guests at a dinner party they were hosting; Zechs Merquise himself was grievously wounded and survived only long enough to give his statement to the police and confirm that his niece and nephew were alive. By the time the police were able to subdue Bloom, he'd destroyed what little repair had been managed on his daughter's eyes and broken his son's arm.

Following his recapture, Bloom was incarcerated at a secure facility on XH7-36T in the L5 colony cluster. Shortly thereafter, he was killed in a brawl by his fellow inmate. Despite his death, however, his dark legacy stayed with his children, and it wasn't long before the only home they could find was the Maxwell Church.

* * *

Quatre looked up at the imposing face of the stone church, trying not to let it intimidate him. It wouldn't be the first orphanage he and his sister had stayed in, but it was the first one in a church.

Five homes since Uncle Zechs in as many months; in that short time, Quatre had become seven going on thirty. He had become very protective of his sister, and wouldn't hesitate to punch anyone who made fun of or bullied her because she couldn't see. In fact, that was why they kept being sent back to orphanages; someone always made fun of Cathy or made rude comments about her, and Quatre invariably beat them up.

"C'mon, Cathy," He said finally, guiding her towards the steps. "They've got wide stairs, so be careful, okay?"

Wide, curious eyes peeked out at the two from windows and doorways and from behind columns on the small porch; Quatre could feel them watching as Cathy worked her way slowly up the stairs.

When the two reached the porch, a nun and priest were there to greet them.

"You must be Catherine and Quatre," The nun said, kneeling in front of them and covering their hands with hers. "I'm Sister Helen, and this is Father Maxwell."

"Hello, Sister Helen," Cathy said with her usual warm smile. "Hello, Father Maxwell."

Quatre just looked at the two adults, not saying a word. They seemed okay from where he stood, but looks weren't everything.

Finally, he nodded a curt greeting, deciding he would give this place a chance.

* * *

It didn't take long for Quatre to get their meager belongings stored in the small room he'd be sharing with his sister; they only had a single suitcase each, not counting Mark Amos, Cathy's white and gold stuffed unicorn.

Quatre helped Cathy put sheets on her bed and settle Mark Amos, then they went down to the church proper to meet the other children.

There were only seven of them, three girls and four boys. The girls were named Janice, Chi, and Violette; the boys were Jason, Ash, Benjiman, and Duo.

Cathy smiled and introduced herself to each of the children in turn while Quatre stood behind her and glared at everyone.

"You do know you're looking at my shoulder, right?" Benjiman commented snidely, watching Quatre out of the corner of his eye. Benjiman had a few inches on the blond, and probably thought he could take Quatre.

Quatre accepted the implied invitation, growling and starting for the taller boy, but someone else beat him to it.

Duo, the boy with long brown hair, punched Benjiman square in the jaw, knocking the redhead off his feet with one hit.

"You- you _hit_ me!" Benjiman exclaimed, feeling his face. "That hurt!"

"I bet it hurt Cathy, too, when you were making fun of her," Duo retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now apologize to her, or I'll hit you again!"

"I-I'm telling Father Maxwell!" Benjiman threatened, scrambling to his feet with one hand still on his bleeding jaw.

"I'll tell him myself if you don't apologize!"

"Tell who what?" Father Maxwell asked, appearing in a doorway as if by magic.

"Father Maxwell, Duo hit me!" Benjiman accused, running over to the priest and showing him the blood dripping down his chin. "He made me bleed!"

"Duo?"

"I hit him." Duo conceded defiantly, not in the least sorry or ashamed. "But only because he was making fun of Cathy!"

"Violence isn't always the answer, Duo," Father Maxwell said, sounding as if he only did so because it had become routine to him.

"Well, if I hadn't hit him, Quatre would've, and Ben might've hurt him. Either way, Ben was gonna get hit, so I figured I'd do it so Quatre wouldn't get in trouble." Duo explained rationally. "And I was gonna go give myself up as soon as he said he was sorry." He added defensively.

"Kitchen duty for a week, Duo," Father Maxwell sighed. "Benjiman, you have yard duty for the same."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it, Benjiman. We do not belittle the misfortune of others; it is a sin, and will be punished as one. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Father Maxwell," Benjiman said sullenly, looking down at the floor.

"Good. Now it's time for lunch, so let us all go eat, shall we?"

* * *

Cathy's world was built almost entirely on sound. After more than half a year of complete darkness, she was finally adjusting. Her ears seemed to be taking up the majority of the slack left by her eyes, and not a mouse ran through the walls that she wasn't aware of.

So the conversation in the hallway that night was clear as a bell to her.

"-I'm just worried, is all," The sweet, musical voice of Sister Helen said softly. "After everything the poor boy has been through, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him lash out at others."

"So your head tells you, Helen, but listen to your heart." Father Maxwell's firm, comforting voice countered gently. "He only wants to protect his sister. If I were him, I would react the same. It's really Benjiman's fault; I'm almost positive he was trying to provoke Quatre."

"Still, Father, I'm uncomfortable with this. It's like we're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks. I feel as if the whole situation could blow up in our faces at any moment."

"Things are ever thus with young boys," Father Maxwell said, and the two moved beyond her hearing, their voices blending into a soft lullaby that pulled her down into sleep.

* * *

Duo was wandering the churchyard, absently kicking a rubber ball in front of him and chasing it, when a small sound caught his ear.

Leavingthe ball where it was, he followed the sound to a sizable clump of bushes growing up against the church itself. Someone was curled up in the hollow, crying. Duo wiggled his way inside to discover it was the new kid, Quatre.

"Hey, you okay?" Duo asked, patting the blond on the shoulder.

"G'way." Quatre ordered, sniffing.

"Why?"

"Cause I wanna be alone."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm cursed."

"How?"

"Why d'you care?"

"Cause I wanna be friends,"

"Y-you do?" Quatre asked, blinking owlishly around his tears at Duo.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"

"B-because I'm cursed. Everyone who's nice to me dies, so Sister Helen and Father Maxwell are gonna die, and probably you too, since you wanna be friends."

"Well, I'm gonna take my chances, cause God's nice to people who are nice to others." Duo informed him. "At least, that's what Father Maxwell says."

"Then why did God let Daddy kill Mommy?" Quatre demanded. "And Uncle Zechs, and Aunt Lucy, and Uncle Trieze, and Lady Une, and all the other people at the party?"

"I don't know," Duo answered solemnly, looking Quatre right in the eye. "God does what God does, and we shouldn't try to figure out why. He knows what He's doing, and that's supposed to be good enough for us."

"But..." Quatre protested, trailing off when he could think of nothing to say. "I guess that makes sense..."

"Yeah. So, you wanna be friends?" Duo asked, extending his hand with an impish grin

"O-okay." Quatre agreed, offering his own hand.

The two shook on it, then crawled out of the bushes and went off in search of something to do.

* * *

_And that's a wrap, folks! Take a break, leave a review, and we'll move on to the next chapter! No reviews, no chapter, and I mean it this time! Rawr!_


	2. Part Two

To Sooti- Me neither. I love watching my fics unfold. It's so much fun!

To Blah- I'm not really sure. The only set pairing involves Catherine and- oops, almost gave it away there! Wouldn't want to do that.

To ZmajGoddess- I was planning on having them slowly grow up, like Quatre turned seven in the first chapter, and Catherine is almost six now. They won't be adults by the end of the fic, but they'll probably be in their middle teens.

To Patricia16- Thank you.

Now, on with the fic!

* * *

"Quatre…" Sister Helen sighed, shaking her head sadly. "I realize that you care deeply for your sister, and that's very admirable, but you can't beat people up for making fun of her."

"I only hit him twice," Quatre muttered defensively, staring at his feet. "And it wasn't even real hard,"

"How hard or how many times you hit him isn't important, Quatre," Sister Helen told him. "It's the fact that you hit him at all that upsets me."

"Well… I'm sorry I made you upset, Sister Helen." He said, looking up at her, his expressive eyes shining with sincere apology. "I'll try not to ever do it again, okay?"

Sister Helen stared at the blond for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh, Quatre, what are we going to do with you?"

* * *

"Hi,"

The bench shifted slightly under Cathy, signaling that someone had claimed the spot to her right.

"Hello," She responded quietly, smiling in the general direction of the speaker. "My name's Cathy. What's yours?"

"I'm Dorothy." Cathy's new seatmate said, taking Cathy's hand in her own and shaking it. "Are you blind?"

"Don't say that around Big Brother, or he'll beat you up!" Cathy warned.

"Why would he do that?" Dorothy asked, letting go of Cathy's hand. "Is your big brother a bully?"

"No, he just doesn't like people to talk about me being blind. It makes him sad."

"Well, I won't talk about you being blind, then." Dorothy decided cheerfully. "I'll talk about other things instead, like music."

"Okay."

* * *

Quatre sat anxiously through his first day of first grade. Cathy was right down the hall in the kindergarten class, but he still didn't like her being so far away. The only thing that kept him from bolting out of the classroom and finding her was the fact that Duo wouldn't let him.

"Don't worry so much, Q." Duo had told him at the beginning of school. "I know someone in Cathy's class, and she'll take real good care of your baby sister, don't you worry."

So of course, Quatre just worried all the more. What few of Duo's 'friends' he'd met did nothing to ease his mind. Like James, a hulking second grader who acted as a protector to younger children – for a small price, of course. Or Sally, a mature and very pretty fourth grader who ran a homework business: a dollar got you a page of math, science, or English, 50 cents for worksheets, $2 for anything else, and an extra 25 cents if you wanted the handwriting to match yours.

No, having a friend of Duo's watching Cathy was _not_ a reason to relax.

* * *

Cathy's teacher, Miss Corbet, had a soft, friendly voice. Cathy liked her. She made sure Cathy could participate in all the games the class played without making an issue of Cathy's blindness, and even showed her a way to read with her hands.

"This is called Braille," Miss Corbet explained during snacktime, guiding Cathy's hand over a line of tiny bumps. "It's a type of writing that lets your fingers read instead of your eyes."

Cathy nodded, fascinated by the idea of telling a story with bumps on paper.

Dorothy was too, and she begged to be taught Braille as well.

"Please? I promise I'll work real hard, as hard as Cathy! Please? Pleasepleaseplease?"

* * *

School finally let out, much to Quatre's relief. In next to no time, the children of the Maxwell Orphanage were gathered in a knot on the playground, waiting for Sister Helen to come pick them up in the church's private bus.

Cathy was last to arrive, being towed by a blond girl with tweezer-shaped eyebrows, a wide smile, and a very _loud_ voice.

"Duo, you were right!" The blond yelled as soon as they were within hearing distance. "Cathy kicks butt! She's my new best friend!"

"I thought _I_ was your best friend!" Duo yelled back, grinning as the two girls skidded to a stop next to the group.

"You were." The blond said, still smiling. "But Cathy's cooler than you. So there."

* * *

"Dorothy's really, really nice." Cathy said, smiling as she ran her fingers over the bumps that represented the first five letters of the alphabet. "She likes to listen to music."

"What kind of music?" Quatre asked, and Cathy's bed shifted, signaling that he'd sat down next to her. "What are all those bumps?"

"They're letters." She stated proudly. "Miss Corbet is teaching me and Dorothy how to read with our hands."

"Really?" Judging by the amazement in his voice, he older brother had never heard of Braille before.

"Really!"

* * *

Time passed, as time has a habit of doing. Summer vacation came and went, and everyone in the Maxwell Orphanage grew a year old. Autumn covered the colony in a false chill, prompting the hardy trees bred for colony life to turn and drop their leaves.

October came when the colony weather reached its lowest temperature and leaves were piled knee-high to an adult around the church, and with it came Trowa.

Trowa was a tall boy a year older than Quatre and Duo, with a strange hairstyle that hid half of his face and expressive green eyes. He'd grown up with his mother in a traveling circus that had recently broken up. Without the support base the circus had provided, Trowa's mother hadn't been able to cope with him and his younger brother, and the two had been signed over to the orphanage.

It was a week before Halloween, when the decorations were going up and costumes were almost done, that Trowa appeared on the porch, a backpack over his shoulder and his little brother's hand in his. Catherine, humming softly to herself, was carrying a small basket of toys up the steps and bumped right into him, almost falling over at the sudden obstacle.

She dropped the basket in an attempt to regain her balance, flailing wildly until an unfamiliar hand closed around her wrist and pulled her to safety.

"Is this the Maxwell Orphanage?" A strange voice asked her quietly.

"Yes, it is." She answered, her face turned to the ground. She'd lost the sunglasses she customarily wore to cover the scar over her eyes, and she didn't want this stranger to see it.

A small hand – smaller than the one that had saved her – touched her face, and she almost flinched. The hand patted her cheek gently, then went on to trace the scar she hid from the world.

"You were hurt." A matter-of-fact voice below her head stated, and the hand fell away. "Who hurt you?"

"Heero, leave her alone." The first voice ordered softly. "You can't ask people you don't know questions like that."

"It's all right." Cathy said, straightening her back. "Are you looking for Father Maxwell? He's in his study right now. Do you want me to take you there?"

"If you would."

"Follow me, then." She said with a smile, turning and walking the carefully memorized route to Father Maxwell's study.

* * *

Trowa watched the strange little girl skip down the hall and out of sight, frowning slightly. Something about that scar nagged at his memory… something he'd seen on the news or something.

"So, you would be Trowa?" The aged priest behind the large desk taking up most of the floor space asked, smiling warmly.

Trowa simply nodded; he wasn't one to say any more than was absolutely necessary.

"And this is your little brother?"

Again, Trowa nodded, watching the priest carefully without appearing to. The man seemed nice enough, and his smile was certainly genuine, but Trowa never trusted anyone based on that alone.

"I hope you don't mind, but the two of you will have to share a room with someone else until we can get our spare room set up for you." Father Maxwell said, writing something down on his notepad. "We like to keep siblings together here, so it looks like we'll be putting you with… Quatre and Catherine should have room."

"Catherine?" Trowa repeated, a few pieces of the puzzle falling into place. "Catherine Bloom?"

"I see you know her." Father Maxwell said, his smile fading a little. "The poor girl. Come; I'll take you to your room."

* * *

_That's all for this chapter, folks. Just about the whole cast of Gundam Wing is going to wind up in this fic, so be on the lookout for your favorite! Unless of course your favorite is Zechs, Trieze, Noin, or Lady Une, 'cause they all died back in chapter one._


	3. Part Three

To NailPolishBunny- Sorry… I'm trying to work on this, really, I am, but…

* * *

"They'll be sharing your room until their own is finished." Father Maxwell concluded, and Quatre nodded. "I'll leave you three to get aquainted, then. Show them around for me, Quatre, and don't forget that you have kitchen duty tonight."

"Yes, Father." Quatre agreed dutifully, bobbing his head. "I didn't forget."

The old priest smiled and left, closing the door behind him, leaving the three boys in pensive silence.

Heero, the smaller of the brothers, spoke first. "Are you Cathy's brother?"

"Yes." Quatre said warily.

"Do you know who hurt her, then?"

"Heero!" Trowa hissed, spinning the smaller brunette around to face him. "What have I told you about asking questions like that?"

"Not to?" Heero ventured, blinking.

"Exactly. Now apologize."

"He doesn't have to." Quatre said softly. "It's an honest question, and I don't really mind answering it." The blond sighed and sat down on his bed, looking at the ground. "It was Daddy. Daddy hurt Cathy. He killed Mommy, too, and he hurt me. He wasn't a very good Daddy."

"I see." Trowa said quietly, his visible eye bright with... something. Tears? Thought? Quatre couldn't be sure. Whatever it was, is disappeared after a moment, leaving the emerald orb empty-seeming. "We never knew our father. We can't even be sure if we have the same one, since we both take after our mother for the most part. Not that it makes any difference; since Mom can't handle having kids anymore, we might as well be orphans anyway."

"Oh." Quatre said, unable to think of anything else, and the silence began to grow again.

For the second time in less than a minute, Heero broke the silence before it could become uncomfortable. "Why do you have kitchen duty?"

"Because I hit someone."

"Why?"

"Because he made fun of Cathy."

"Why?"

"Because of her eyes."

"Then he should have been hit." Heero decided, nodding sharply. "He shouldn't make fun of people 'cause they're different. S said being different makes us all special, and that if everybody was all the same, the world would be really boring."

"S?" Quatre repeated, blinking. That didn't sound like much of a name...

"S of S&G. They had an act with the circus before it broke up." Trowa explained. "S liked to spend time with us between shows. He was always telling Heero stuff like that."

"But it's true." Heero protested stubbornly, crossing his arms and pouting.

"How about that tour Father Maxwell mentioned?" Trowa asked with a sigh.

* * *

"This is the church proper." Quatre explained brightly. "At least, that's what Father Maxwell calls it. We come here for evening Mass before dinner and on Sundays before breakfast."

"What if you don't believe in God?" Heero asked, and Trowa almost screamed. Heero was forever asking questions, pestering people until they answered him, and some of those questions were highly inappropriate.

"Father Maxwell said that even if we don't believe in God, God believes in us." Quatre answered, apparently used to being pestered. "If you don't want to pray, you can sit in one of the back pews and just listen, but it would be dis-re-spec-ful to not come."

"That's okay, then." Heero decided, nodding to himself.

"And back over there's the confessional. We don't use it, since Father Maxwell and Sister Helen know us all, so we have to go to another church if we've got something we have to tell a priest. Sometimes, we even go visit the Priestesses of Artemis. They're really nice.

"That's the door to the kitchen and dining room." Quatre continued, and Trowa found himself wondering where the boy got his energy. "After dinner, I have kitchen duty, so I have to help clean up, but Duo - I'll introduce you to him later, he's my best friend - Duo's not in trouble right now, so he can show you around after that, and Cathy will probably want to help. I usually help make dinner, too, but I can stay with you if you want me to."

"Cooking's for girls." Heero stated, frowning. "Boys aren't supposed to cook."

"That's not true!" Quatre exclaimed. "I love cooking, and I'm not a girl! Sister Helen's teaching me, and she says I'm a... uh... prod... prod-o-gy. That means I'm really, really good at it."

"Cooking is for girls." Heero repeated firmly. "Maybe you should've been a girl, but God got it mixed up and made you a boy instead, like Aunt Hilde, only opposite."

"Huh?"

"Aunt Hilde's a girl, but she says God should've made her a man." Heero explained, ignoring the looks his big brother was giving him. "She's a great fighter, and she like guns and wants to marry a woman. She fought tigers in the circus!"

Quatre turned helplessly to Trowa, silently begging for something resembling a coherent explanation.

"Hilde trained the tigers and lions for the ringmaster." Trowa said, taking pity on the poor blond. "She insisted we call her Aunt Hilde. She has a gun show now that the circus isn't together anymore, and she has a girlfriend."

"Ooh..." Quatre said, understanding finally dawning on him. "That makes sense."

"It made sense when I said it, too." Heero pouted, glaring intently at the floor.

"Umm... Let's go meet the other kids, okay?" Quatre suggested.

* * *

"This is Janice and Violette." Quatre said brightly. "They're the only girls here besides Cathy."

"And one of us is still more smart than all the boys put together." Janice spoke up, sticking her tongue out at Quatre.

"Smarter." Trowa corrected quietly. "It's smarter, not more smart."

"Looks like you're not the smartest anymore, Jan-Jan!" Duo exclaimed, laughing, as he bounced out of hiding and attached himself to Quatre's neck. "So there. Who's the new guy, Q? Is he your bestest friend now? Are you leaving me?"

"_You're_ my bestest friend, Duo." Quatre said calmly, trying to pry the brunette off. "You know that. Trowa and Heero are gonna be living here, though, so I'm showing them the church."

"Have you showed them the attic yet?" Duo demanded gleefully, bouncing up and down without once loosing his hold on poor Quatre. "Have you, have you, have you? Hi, I'm Duo. Which one's Trowa?"

"Him." Heero said flatly, pointing at his older brother. "You're loud."

"_Heero!_" Trowa all but wailed, groaning. "I'm sorry; he has no manners."

"Then we should get along great." Duo said, grinning. "I have no manners, too."

"Have you seen Jason and Ash?" Quatre asked, finally managing to slip out of Duo's chokehold.

"They went with Father Maxwell somewhere. Jason got stuck with charity duty for pouring syrup all over the bathroom, and Ash is such a goody-two-shoes that he wanted to go, too." Duo explained, hanging off Quatre again. "And Cathy's in her room, trying to read those bumps again."

"Bumps?" Trowa asked curiously.

"Yeah, bumps. They're supposed to be like words for blind people. Her teacher gave her a book. I can't remember what it's called, though... I think it starts with a B..."

"Braille." Quatre supplied. "You wanna help make dinner tonight?"

"Nah." Duo said. "Sister Helen might make me peel stuff again. I don't like peeling stuff. 'Specially potatoes. They're slimy."

"We'll help." Trowa volunteered, smiling in at inarticulate protest from his younger brother. "Think of it as a learning experience, Heero." He said. "And what was it S said about learning experiences?"

"'Nothing is pointless unless you fail to learn from it.'" Heero quoted dutifully. "'The only things worth experiencing are the ones that teach us something.' 'Always try; even if you fail, at least you know for sure you can't do it.' 'If-'"

"That's enough, Heero."

* * *

_Didn't I say 'fun at the Maxwell Orphanage'? So three more characters have been refered to. Any requests as to who should be introduced next?_


	4. Part Four

To NailPolishBunny- I didn't plan on it; I just get stuck and frustrated and go work on something else for a while. I loved having Quatre try to pronounce big words like disrespectful and prodigy! I really hope I was accurate, but the only kid in my life is 9, and she lives two towns over, so...

To Flying Fish- No, Trowa and Cathy will not be getting together. I have other plans for those two. Trowa, of course, will eventually be gay, because he just seems so gay to me. I have yet to write a fic where Trowa was straight. Well, there is that one story…. But that's beside the point. I agree on the cuteness of 3x4x3, but I think it's a bit overdone. I like writing AU because it lets me explore other possibilities that the canon storyline makes impossible. As for Wufei... Oh, he's gonna show up, all right. Just you wait and see...

* * *

"Have you ever seen a rabbit, Heero? They're funny-looking, and they bounce really high when they move, like they've got springs in their feet. I saw a rabbit once last year. It was a pet, but its owner let it get out, and it was bouncing down the street and everyone was staring at it, and the girl who owned it was running after, screaming 'Come back, Mr. Bunny!' and the rabbit just kept bouncing. It bounced into a shop and they caught it, but it was lots of fun to watch!"

Trowa had come to the conclusion that ADHD was contagious. Everyone in the orphanage seemed to have it, especially Duo and Quatre, who both talked nonstop and seemed to have an endless amount of energy.

"Rabbits hop." Heero stated firmly. "S said rabbits hop. They don't bounce."

"Ah, bouncing and hopping are the same thing, 'cept bouncing goes higher." Duo said, grinning. "But deer really bounce! I saw some in a movie once, and they bounced really high!" Duo demonstrated how high the deer had bounced, using a potato to represent a stone wall and his hand to represent the deer, while Heero watched with wide blue eyes, storing everything he saw for later reference.

"Is he always this loud?" Trowa asked the nun, Sister Helen.

"It's one of his most charming qualities." Sister Helen said with a smile. "Quatre, dear, the heat's too high. Turn it down a little, or you'll burn the stew."

"How can you burn stew?" Heero asked, distracted from Duo's stories of bouncing animals. "Stew's like water, and water doesn't burn, it just disappears."

"So stew's all water?" Sister Helen responded. "What about the vegetables, and the potatoes, and the meat? Can't they stick to the bottom and burn?"

"I guess..." Heero admitted dubiously, and Trowa smiled to himself. Heero was very smart, already accepted into first grade at five, but sometimes, he just refused to believe the truth. "But then the meat burns, not the stew!"

"But the meat's part of the stew." Quatre protested, his aqua eyes bright with a smile he refused to show, probably because he didn't want to hurt Heero's feelings. "The meat makes it stew instead of soup, so if the meat burns and we can't eat it, we won't have stew anymore."

"Okay..." Heero said, sounding a bit less certain that stew couldn't burn.

* * *

Cathy made her way cautious down the stairs to the main floor of the orphanage, hoping no one had left their toys out for her to trip over. They usually didn't, but there was always a chance, and she didn't want to fall down the stairs again. That hurt.

She made it down the flight without mishap and felt along the wall for the door to the dining room, following the sound of voices and the smell of stew. After more than a year, she found it fairly easy to navigate the halls of the orphanage, and found the dining room with no trouble at all.

She recognized most of the voices engaged in conversation, and one that probably belonged to the new boy. Quatre would probably be near him, but it was hard to tell in the jumble of voices.

"Hey, Cathy!" Duo's energetic voice hailed her, and she moved gratefully towards the sound. "Cathy, over here! Heero, move, you're in Cathy's seat!"

"It doesn't have her name on it." A tantalizingly familiar voice complained.

"Just move, Heero." The new boy said, sounded exasperated. "If she usually sits there, it is, in effect, her chair. Move."

There was a heavy sigh and the sound of wood scraping against stone, and Cathy's usual seat was empty by the time she reached it. She didn't receive much in the way of special treatment, in the orphanage or at school, but routines provided a comfortable setting in which Cathy could function almost as well as her seeing friends. She'd been eating meals in this very same chair ever since she first came to the Maxwell Orphanage, and she was glad to not have to give it up.

Taking a deep breath, Cathy filtered out the background noise of conversation and dishes clanking together, listening for Quatre's voice. He didn't always sit next to her, but it always worried her when she couldn't hear him.

"Hey, Cathy," Duo said quietly, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Q's right across the table. Heero, the new kid, is next to you. Say hi."

With a smile that was most likely slightly off the mark, Cathy gave wordless thanks and turned to her right. "Hi." She said, still smiling. "My name's Cathy."

"I know." The same familiar voice said, and a small hand touched her face. "We met already, when you lost your shield."

_My shield?_ Cathy thought, momentarily confused. _Oh, he must mean my glasses._

"Yup." She agreed. "But now we're telling our names and stuff, so it's a second meeting, okay?"

A moment of contemplative silence, then, "I'm Heero. My big brother's Trowa. We're staying in your room, so we have to be sure we don't leave our stuff out so you can trip over it."

"Heero." The voice that must belong to Trowa said. "Eat your vegetables."

"But I hate green beans." Heero protested, and Cathy smothered a laugh.

"Eat them anyway." Trowa countered smoothly, sounding used to his brother's antics. "Or need I remind you what S used to say about a well-balanced diet?"

"'Eating healthy is the first step to living healthy.'" Heero sighed with the air of someone quoting. "But I still don't like 'em."

Cathy just sat there, hiding a smile by digging into her on meal. Since she didn't need things to be aesthetically pleasing, whoever had served her plate had simply dumped everything but the bread into her stew and mixed it together, as was usually the case.

"Eat them anyway, Heero, and maybe we won't help clean up."

* * *

"The beds are big enough for us to share." Trowa admitted dubiously, eying the small room. "But I must warn you, Heero might switch beds."

"Switch beds?" Cathy repeated, sounding perplexed. "Why?"

"For some reason, Heero feels more at ease in bed with girls." Trowa said, resisting the urge to shrug. The younger brunette had gotten into trouble a lot in the circus, wandering out of the family's trailer and bedding down with one of the female performers. "Don't ask me why; I have no idea."

"Well, he could just share with me." Cathy said, then paused. "But then you'd have to share a bed with Big Brother…. I don't know if he'd like that…."

"We could go and ask him." Trowa suggested, not sure _he_ was comfortable with the idea of sharing a bed with a strange boy. "If you're okay sharing with Cathy, Heero?"

"Sure." Heero said. "Cathy's all right, and I can make sure she doesn't trip over my stuff in the morning."

Cathy laughed delightedly and, with amazing accuracy, threw her arms around Heero's shoulders.

"I love you, Heero!" She exclaimed happily, and Trowa wondered if she had any real notion of what she was saying. From what he understood, she was about two years younger than him, and what seven-year-old knew anything about love?

Hero, unlike most children his age, had never picked up on 'cooties'; he simply smiled and patted Cathy's cheek in a strangely paternal gesture.

"Let's go see what Quatre thinks, then."

* * *

It was very late at night when Heero woke up, surrounded by shadows and the unfamiliar night sounds of his new home. He lay there for a moment, trying to pinpoint what had woken him up; he was a light sleeper, sure, but it took something _strange_ to rouse him out of sleep.

After a moment, he heard the sound again- a small, frightened whimper, like a scared puppy, coming from nearby. In the dim light of the streetlamps, Cathy's scarred face was twisted with fear and pain, and the whimpering was coming from her.

Now, Heero, being only five, didn't know very much, but he did know a thing or two about pain. In the circus, he'd learned about the three different kinds of pain: body pain, mind pain, and heart pain. He knew body pain healed fastest, and pills made it go away for a while. He knew that mind pain was usually lasting, but could be fixed with pills sometimes, too. And he knew that only time and love could heal heart pain, and that heart pain was the very worst kind of pain, because only someone you loved could give it to you.

Time, Heero had no control over, and he couldn't offer it as a cure for Cathy's kind of pain. Love, on the other hand, he did have, and he gave it freely, snuggling up close to her and wrapping his arms around her. It was always better to have someone to help heal heart pain, even if you didn't know that someone very well. If support and the unconditional love of a child was all Heero had, it was all that was really needed that cold October night on colony X27-NL8, and Heero drifted back into dreams.

* * *

_Aw, Heero's so sweet! I had to work very hard to decide what Heero would be like at such a young age, especially if J never got his grubby mitts on the boy, but I did enjoy writing that last scene. Keep a look out for more characters in the next episode!_


	5. Part Five

To Armygundamgirl- You must not have read many fics, then…. This isn't all that sweet….. Yeah, Heero's fun in this story; but once again, I just hope I'm portraying little kids right, since I don't know very many…. Trowa's easier, since he's very mature and all.

To GundamPilot03- Gah, I love Heero in this story! I can honestly say I've never had so much fun writing him. I'm debating about introducing Nataku, and what she'll be if she does enter the story. The roles I've come up with so far are his mother, his sister, his cousin, his bride, and his friend. Or she could be a pet. Pet is a distinct possibility right now. Yes, yes, chibiness is goooood…. And that's a funny image of Wufei, all right…. Snerk. I'll try to move faster on this one, but no promises, okay?

To Yaeko- No, no 1x2x1 in this story. You want 1x2x1, you go read one of my other GW stories. I've got other plans for Duo in this one. There won't be any 3x4x3, either; I'm avoiding mainstream pairings this time around. Sorry. I'm working as fast as I can on this, too, so it should be out soon.

* * *

"Heero, is the teacher here yet?" Cathy asked, sighing impatiently.

"No." Heero said quietly, his small hand twitching briefly in hers. "I'm bored."

"So am I." Cathy retorted, smiling. "But we have to wait for the teacher so he can introduce you to the class." She still couldn't believe that someone as young as Heero was in the same grade as her, and would be in her class starting today. He was probably amazingly smart, and if he looked half as sweet as he sounded, the other girls would probably be hanging all over him.

"Here he comes." Heero spoke up, tugging on Cathy's arm. "'Bout time."

"Sorry I'm late, you two, but I got held up down in the office." The energetic voice of Cathy's teacher apologized by way of greeting. "I take it this young lad is Heero? A heartbreaker he will be, for sure. Well, let's get you two in and settled, before those students of mine go crazy without supervision, shall we?" The door opened, and Cathy allowed Heero to lead her into the classroom.

* * *

Heero watched his new classmates with sharp interest, fascinated by the diversity to be found in this one small room. Even with all the people who had visited the circus, he wasn't prepared for so many different personalities.

Take the teacher; he was very loud, and he talked a lot about stuff besides what they were learning. Heero didn't understand what most of it was supposed to mean, but he filed it away to ask Trowa about later. And as if the teacher wasn't weird enough, there were girls.

Heero had never had the chance to meet girls his own age, and now he was sitting in a room full of them. They kept looking at him funny and whispering and giggling, like they'd never seen a boy before, which couldn't be true, because there were a bunch of _those_ in the class, too. The funny looks the boys gave Heero were different from the funny looks the girls gave him, and he didn't like them.

By the time recess came, Heero had decided it would be best to stay with Cathy, both to help her out, and to make sure he didn't get lost. There were a lot more people here than he'd thought there would be. So when the bell rang, he closed his notebook and slipped over to Cathy's desk.

"Cathy, can I stay with you?" He whispered, standing as close to the desk as he could. "I might get lost by myself."

"Sure!" Cathy said, smiling. She smiled a lot, even though she could be sad, and Heero liked that. "I can show you around, and you can make sure I don't run into any walls, since Dorothy's sick!"

"Okay." Heero agreed. He'd met Dorothy last week, before he'd started school, and she was the scariest girl ever. She was almost as loud as Duo, tougher than Trowa, and Cathy's very bestest friend. It was almost unbelievable she could even _get_ sick.

"Hey, Heero," Cathy said suddenly once the two were in the hall. "Are you gonna go trick-or-treating tomorrow?"

"What's trick-or-treating?" He asked, frowning. It sounded kind of familiar, but he couldn't remember what it was.

"You don't know what _trick-or-treating_ is?" She demanded with an astonished gasp. "Then you absolutely _have_ to go with me and Quatre and Duo! When we get home, we've gotta make you a costume!"

* * *

"Hey, Duo, guess what I heard!"

Duo looked up from his chicken salad sandwich – courtesy of the very talented Quatre – in time to spot one Sally Po bearing down on him with a look in her eye that spoke of gossip.

"What?" He asked around a mouthful of food, before quickly finishing the bite under Quatre's disapproving glare.

"I hear there's a total genius three-year-old in first grade!" Sally exclaimed, squeezing onto the bench between Duo and the lunchroom wall. "He's supposed to be adorable, with the biggest blue eyes you ever did see!"

"He's five." Quatre disagreed, polishing off his orange juice. "His name's Heero, and he knows a lot, but he thinks boys shouldn't cook. He's staying with us."

"Is he really?" Sally demanded. "Can I meet him, do you think?"

"Meet who?" A new voice inquired, and the object of their discussion melted out of the crowd, holding tight to Cathy's hand.

"You." Quatre said. "This is Sally Po. She's a friend of Duo's."

"Your hair looks funny." Heero said by way of greeting, eying the strange ponytail-like twists on either side of Sally's face. "You should've been in the circus with us."

"Heero, that's not nice!" Cathy exclaimed a split second before Sally Po burst out laughing.

"Well, if I'm funny-looking, then what are you?" The fourth-grader retorted, grinning. "You're short, skinny, bug-eyed, and your hair looks like a rats' nest. Not only that, but your clothes are weird."

"I _like_ my clothes." Heero protested, sounding slightly offended. "So there."

* * *

"Well, he's never been trick-or-treating." Trowa explained, shrugging. "We were usually out on the road on Halloween, and even when we weren't, we were too busy helping out at the circus to go."

"But… but…" Cathy protested weakly. "Five years old, and he's never gone trick-or-treating? That's just plain sad, Trowa. And as punishment, you have to help make him a costume, since I can't sew."

"Can I be a clown?" Heero asked, blinking innocently. "Mama made me a clown suit before she sent us away. That way we don't have to make anything."

"That's perfect, Heero! Let's go find Sister Helen and ask if you can go with us, then we'll go put your costume on, and you can help me with mine!" The two started for the door, but Cathy paused, as if struck by a sudden through. "And you're coming, too, Trowa, you hear?"

* * *

"Your sister is going to grow up beautiful, Quatre." Trowa commented quietly, watching as the final touches were added to Cathy's Nubian warrior costume. "I'd suggest learning how to fight."

"Huh?" Came Quatre's witty reply, muffled by Duo's bulk hanging off the small blond.

"When she gets older, boys are going to like her a lot." Trowa explained. "They're going to try to make her do things she doesn't want to, and as her brother, it's your job to make sure they leave her alone. So you need to learn how to fight."

"Really? Do you know who can teach me how to fight?" Quatre asked. Mention Cathy in a possibly dangerous situation, and Quatre suddenly became all for anything that could prevent it.

"No, but I bet we can find someone." Trowa answered as Sister Helen stood up.

Even the nun was in costume, her blondish-brown hair falling free over her shoulders beneath a cleverly designed halo of gold-painted tinfoil, a beautiful white gown encasing her slim body.

"All right ,children, are we all set?" She asked with a smile for her odd group of charges that widened at the enthusiastic affirmatives. "Then let's get going before it gets dark, okay?"

As the other orphans followed the nun down the church steps, Trowa watched in his usually quiet fashion. Cathy the Nubian warrior had acquired Duo the girl, Heero the clown, and Quatre the doctor as escorts, with twin catgirls Janice and Violette a close step behind, Helen the Guardian Angel in the lead, and Jason the knight and Ash the scarecrow bringing up the rear.

Trowa himself had refused all attempts to dress him up, insisting he could give a perfectly reasonable explanation for his ordinary jeans and turtleneck. He had consented to go on this ridiculous outing; he'd never agreed to enjoy it.

* * *

_And next chapter marks Heero's first ever Halloween trick-or-treat trip! Once I've sorted out my problem with Nataku, I'll introduce Wufei, but I'm still open to any other characters you want to see. Review, and I'll get cracking on chapter six, okay?_


End file.
